The average foster youth lives in 13 different homes before the age of 18! The transitory nature of these youth makes it very difficult to establish consistent relationships with adults, peers, and support systems. As all youth age out of the foster system, they are all asked one question during their exit interview, “Do you have one person in your life that you can trust, that you can go to in a
time of need?” The vast majority say no! We are changing that! Young Life: Impacting Hearts’ youth are becoming sources of joy in their homes and, as a result, are being forced to move much less, creating a renewed sense of stability in their lives. We work with the Department of Child and Family Services and Foster Family Agencies in order to introduce every child within the foster care system to Jesus Christ, help them grow in their faith, provide them with the sense of family they have been deprived of, and lead them toward self-sustaining adulthood. Through these relationships we hope to make Young Life: Impacting Hearts accessible to every foster youth in Orange County. As a ministry that is part of Young Life (www.younglife.org), Impacting Hearts stands by Young Life's rich 75-year history of working with adolescents between the ages of 11-24 (6th grade through college). We believe that every young person has the right to hear about Jesus in a way that they can understand, allowing them to make their own decision about Him. We achieve this by living alongside young people in their worlds and sharing our life with them; we call this incarnational ministry.
